Intro and outro @fiverr. I talk about the documentary about Luther Vandross. Follow the show on ig, Pinterest, threads, and fb @dreaspointofview. Also follow @dreaspoint on x and spill.
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[00:00:15] Tell me to welcome you to Dreas Point of View. I am your hostess, Dreya. And in the next 10 minutes or less, I will offer you my perspective on a topic that I feel passionate about. So make sure that you're following the show at Dreas Point of View on IG, Threads, Facebook and Pinterest. You can follow me at Dreas Point, my ex-spill, and at bluesky, dreaspointofview.bluesky.social.
[00:00:39] So I wanted to do this episode on a documentary that I saw. There's so much on TV now, and you should know if you've been an avid listener that I love a good documentary, especially a music documentary. And this one is called Never Too Much that premiered January 1st about the late Luther Bandross.
[00:01:11] I grew up with his music. Parents grew up with his music. And I didn't know much about him then. I'm not one to research someone's life. I only go off what comes out. At least back then. I only knew that he was a balladeer. I knew where he was from. I knew that he didn't have kids. I knew he didn't marry. And that was it.
[00:01:40] I really didn't know much about him. So it was great seeing this two-hour documentary come out to learn more.
[00:01:49] I learned that he got a start. He was a background singer for a few groups. And then from there, he went on to jingles, doing jingles for commercials. I don't remember his voice in any of the commercials that he did. So that was cool, you know?
[00:02:12] I also learned that, well, from there, he wanted to be a breakout star. And I'm glad he did because his voice doesn't seem like something that would blend in with anyone else's. It's just a standout.
[00:02:26] And it took him a while to get his Grammys. And he was very well-loved by many. But then it took focus on, well, I'll admit, the first part I wasn't too interested in.
[00:02:50] Like, my mind started wandering. But the second part got more interesting to me. It talked about, well, it was in a car accident where someone died. For some reason, I don't remember that.
[00:03:04] Or someone died. And then there was a huge focus on his weight because it went up and down. He had diabetes. But it was such an issue. And weight is a sensitive subject for many.
[00:03:21] So I could see why he didn't really want to focus on that. And then there were rumors about his lifestyle, that he was gay. And I don't, that's another thing.
[00:03:41] I just don't recall hearing any of those. And it wouldn't have mattered to me anyway. I mean, I don't know. I never really cared about anyone's sexual orientation. The music's good. I'm going to buy it. I'm going to still see you regardless.
[00:03:55] But he felt that his image would have been tarnished if he would have said something. Either way, he didn't confirm nor deny his orientation. But being that he had a lot of women fans, it may have hurt.
[00:04:15] Like many other people in the industry, it may have hurt their career. So he decided to say less on that. And I don't blame him. Although when you're in the public eye, everyone's going to dig deep and they want to see you with someone.
[00:04:30] They're going to, rumors are going to start. I mean, that's just how it is. And it wasn't until towards the end, he, I guess he was on the Oprah show and she asked his favorite songs. And one of them was, his all time favorite was Any Love.
[00:04:52] Any Love. And he was really talking about himself, how that's really what he wanted because he never really had that. And that's, that was the sad and shocking part. I'm like, it's with the Vandross. I mean, how can you not?
[00:05:11] So, it's definitely something to look into. Maybe you could catch it on YouTube or I don't know if it's still, you could still catch it on CNN, but it's definitely a good watch into the life of Luther.
[00:05:28] And then it mentioned his greatest hits album, which came out last year, which I wasn't aware of. So you could check it out on Spotify and Apple music.
[00:05:43] He also finally got a Grammy because he was trying to cross over like many going to mainstream, but he was concerned because, you know, he didn't look like, he didn't look the part, but yeah, he finally did get his Grammy.
[00:05:56] And one of them was from a dance with my father and couldn't then, you know, then of course he had a stroke and he couldn't really enjoy the success of it because he was hospitalized.
[00:06:15] And then they showed clips of his funeral service and the artists that were there for that.
[00:06:26] So, I highly recommend seeing this documentary.
[00:06:31] I think you'll enjoy it.
[00:06:34] Hopefully you will continue to listen to my show as well as let me know if you've seen it.
[00:06:41] Drea's point of view at yahoo.com.
[00:06:44] Also, feel free to catch up on my episodes and leave a review at thedreya'spointofview.com as well as subscribing to my free weekly newsletter that comes out on Saturdays.
[00:06:54] It'll let you know about my future episodes as well as podcasting events.
[00:07:02] drea'spointofview.substack.com.
[00:07:04] As always, I thank you for listening.
[00:07:07] I'd love to know your favorite Luther Vandross song.
[00:07:10] I have so many, but I want to say one of mine is never too much.
[00:07:18] And the other was, well, it had love in it.
[00:07:27] It wasn't the power of love.
[00:07:29] It wasn't any love.
[00:07:31] But for some reason, my mind went blank.
[00:07:35] But if you know his catalog, then you know which song I'm referring to.
[00:07:42] Thank you for listening.
[00:07:45] This has been Drea's Wait for Love.
[00:07:50] That's it.
[00:07:51] This is Drea's point of view.